Improvement in grain-drills



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JOHN H. THOMAS `AND PHINEAS P. MAST, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 112,093, dated February 21, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-DRILLS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letten Patent and making part of the lame- To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN l1. THOMAS and Parn- EAS P. MAST, of Springfield, in the county Clark and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Grain-Drills, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawmg.

Our invention relates to that class ot' seeding-machines denominated grain-drills; one portion of the invention consisting in an arrangement of devices for automatically throwing out of gear the grass-seed distributor, this portion of the invention being applicable only to those machines which have attached to them a grass-seed distributing apparatus.

Ihe other part ot our invention consists iu certain devices for adjusting the hoes, this portion of the invention being applicable to those machines which have their drill-tubes or hoes arranged to be shifted from one to two ranks or tiers, and rice rersa it now bef ing customary to embody both these features, that is, the grass-seed distributer and the shifting hoes, infthe same machine, though it is obvious that'they may be used separately in machines, each being entirely in` dependent of the other.

The general construction of our improved machine is the same as that heretofore described in our several patents, and which, being well kuown, need not be specially described.

In the accompanying drawing- A Figure l represents a longitudinal vertical section Aof the machine with our improvement applied thereto, and

Figure 2, a top plan view of' a portion ot' the same with the hopper detached.

Figure 3 is a portion shown detached.

The frame A is rectangular in form, and mounted on wheels like a cart, as is usual in this class of machines.

Upon the axle T at one end is secured a spur-wheel, I, from which motion is given to the grain distributor in the grain-hopper H, and also to the grass-seed slide in the grass-seed hopper G. For imparting motion to the latter we arrange a pinion,`P over the wheel I, as shown in fig. 1, and on the inner end of its journal secure a crank, O, which is connected by a rod, 1, withan elbow-lever. u, pivoted upon the top of' the side bar of the frame A, this elbow lever a being connected by another rod, p, to the grass-seed slide or distributor in the hopper G, these parts being shown in iigs. land 2, the elbow-lever and its rods being the same as in our-.former patents.

The' 'pinion P wenow, however, mount in the front. end of a plate orlever, fn, which is pivoted to the inner sident' the outer or siderail of the frame A by a bolt, e, as shown lin iig. l, its frontend being held down by a spring, t, to hold the pinion P in gear with the wheel I, while its rear end extends back to the rear end ot' the trame where it projects under a lug, c', formed on the arm L of the shaft It, to which the hoes are connected by chains for raising and holding them clear of the ground This shalt l, with its arm L, is the same as heretofore used by ns in our machines, but we have not heretofore constructed the arm with lugfr at this end, a similar oney having previously been used at the opposite end for another purpose. As shown in iig. 1, this lug Ir is arranged so` that when the shaft It is turned up, asthere represented, i1) elevate the hoes, it will strike upon the rear end of the plate or lever 1:.and by depressing its rear end will elevate its front' end, thereby disengaging the pinion I from the wheel I, and thus automatically disconnect or stop the operation of the grass-seed slide or distributer.

It is obvious that when the shaft It is turned down the spring t will restore the lever n to its former posit-ion, thus again setting the grass-seed distributer in operation. By this improvement we dispense with a separate arrangement of devices for throwing out of gear the grass-seed distributer, and accomplish the desired result by the simple operation of raising the hoes. Various plans have hitherto been devised for shitting the hoes from one to two ro'ws and 4vice lversa, as shown in our previous patents.

We have, however, devised a simpler and better plan than those formerly used, which is as follows z One set of the hoes we attach to the second crossbar A', and the other. set to a sliding bar, B, the same as heretofbre, the sliding bar B being supported upon rods d, as shown in lig. 1. Y

To guide this bar in `its movement and prevent it from becoming worn and loose we secure to its under side, where-it bears on the rods d, plates h, the form of which is shown in g. 3, 'These plates are provided on their under sides with small projections e, or their equivalent-s, which are arranged "to project down on opposite sides of the rods d, as shown in fig. l, thus serving as guides.

Transversely ot' the frame, in front of the axle, we mount a rock-shaft, i-having rigidly secured to each end outside of the frame an arm, b, one of these arms being prolonged to form a lever or handle, O, as shown in fig. 1, for operating the shaft and its arms. These arms b are connected at their lower ends by rigid rods or bars a, to the ends of the sliding bar B, as shown in gs. 1 and 2, so that by moving the lever C the bar B with itsfhoes maybemoved forward orbackward, as desired,

One of the arms b is made with a portion, Y, projecting backward at right angles from its lower end,

Y as shown in g. l,v and at Yits endthis angular portion Y is provided with an inwardly-projecting lip, c, which, `when the arm b is raised to the position indicated by the dotted lines in fig. 1, strikes against the under side of the frame, and thus prevents the shaft f with its arms from moving further, thereby locking thev parts in position. 4 f f The length of this projecting part Y of the'arm is such, that by the time the lip cstrikes the frame the point of the rod a and arm b will be thrown past the center a little, as clearly shown by the dotted lines, and thus they are prevented from slipping back; and as the lip c prevents them moving further, the parts are thus securely1 locked in position.

Instead of making the arm b with the angular arm Y and stop c, we may accomplish the same result by securing to the outside of the frame A one or more bent guides or stops, z, as shown iu g. 4.V .This guide z is made with a shoulder, as there shown, against which the bar a strikes as itis thrown up past the center, and thus serves as a stop in place of the lip c previously described.

Another advantage of this arrangement is that the depending arm of this piece z rests over or outside of the bar a, and thus prevents the latter from being doubled up or bent or sprung outward-by the thrust or strain brought upon it. This device will be used on .both sides of the machine, aud there may be several of them used ou each side, though two Vwill .be found sufiicient, 'one being located near the point where the arm a is united to the crank or arm 1,thns serving to support or hold both the bar and the crank and the other near the center of the bar a.

By these improvements we dispense with .many of the parts heretofore used, and produce a very simple and ecient arrangement of devices for shifting the P mounted thereon, and arranged to gear into the driving-wheel I, in combination with the arm L, prov-vded with the lug or its equivalent, arranged to operate substantially as described, for automatically disconnecting the grass-seed Vdistributer by the risingof the hoes, as set forth.

2. A grain-drill,provided with a grass-seed sower, having its agitator connected with the operating mechanism, substantially as described, whereby the agitator is thrown out of gear by the elevating of the hoes, as set forth.

3. The plates h, provided with -the projections e, or their equivalents, in combination with the sliding barv B and the supporting rods rl, all 'arranged to operate substantially as set forth." ,4

4. In combination with the lever G, the rock-shaft f aud toggle-joints a b for simultaneously operating both ends ot' the sliding bar B and the drag-bars thereto attached, substantially as set forth.-

JOHN I-I. THOMAS. PHINEAS P. MAST.

Witnesses: y

Guns. B. GRADI, H. S. SHOWERS. 

